Cigar-vending apparatus



(No Model.)

' A. 8. HART.

CIGAR VENDING APPARATUS.

No. 381,239. Patented Apr. 17, 1888.

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l EETERS. Panto-1.1086 1 wmin im 432a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANSALEM G. HART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CIGAR-VENDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,239, dated April 17, 1888.

Application filed September 19, 1887. Serial No. 250,130. (No model.) i I To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, ANSALEM G. HART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Vending Cigars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for vending cigars; and the objects of my improvements are to provide machinery by which the constant presence of an attendant is dispensed with in the business of retailing cigars of certain grades or prices, while making the action of the apparatus certain and positive in delivering the goods when the money has been properly paid. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure lis asectional elevation on line XX of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan taken on the line Y Y of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial section on line Z Z of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a part front elevation.

A A are cigars.

B is the inclined face of a hopper=formed receptacle, R, to receive the cigars, of which the end walls are C and D.

E is a vertical partition placed so near the front wall, F, of the box containing the apparatus that the cigars are forced to go single tile in dropping from the hopper R.

G is the moneybox, the end walls of which are D and H.

J and K are sliding plates pivoted to the levers L L, each of which is fulcrumed to the rod M, held fast in the supports N N.

O is a connecting-rod receiving motion from the lever P and conveying it to the plates J and K through any suitable connection to those plates or their connecting parts. The lever P is pivoted at Q to any suitable support, and is operated by the push-rod R, which rod is held in one of its extreme positions by the spring S. At each side of the push-rod'R is a partition or plate, T, inclosing' the rod and its locking device and communicating with the passage or tunnel U. The locking device referred to consists of the pawl V, arranged to engage anotch, W, in the push-rod R, and the lever A, connected by the connecting-rod B to the pawlV. The relation of these parts to each other is best seen in Fig. 3. The circle C represents a nickel five-cent piece, the circle D any coin of smaller diameter, and E isa slot in the rod B large enough to allow the larger coin to drop past the rod; The, slot F is large enough to receive thenickcl and com municates with the tunnel U.

G G are slots through which the descending cigars may be seen. a

H is a door or opening from which cigars may be taken after they have dropped from the plate K. I

K is a rodor lifter, of any suitable form, connected with the connecting-rod O, and so applied that when the push-rod R is forced in the upper end of the rod K lifts cigars above it in such way as to overcome any possible clogging or wedging of the cigars that would prevent them from falling into the narrow passage L. V

M is a padlock, and at N are hinges by means of which the main partof the box is hinged to its back. The latter iswhen the apparatus isin use made fast to a wall or other suitable support.

In operating the device the hopperR is first supplied with cigars. Then a coin is dropped into the slot F, which drops through the tunnel U.- If the coin be appreciably smaller than a nickel five-cent piece, or than the coin designed to operate the machine, it will drop freely through the slot E into the money-box without effect. If the coin be, however, correct in size-that is, of the size by which the machine was designed to be operatedit will strike the free end of the lever A, which extends slightly over into the end of the pawlV to be raised out of the notch W, which permits the rod R to be pushed in. Meantime the coin rests on the end of the slot E, which is not long enough when in this positionto permit it to pass. Now, pressing on the end of the rod, the coin drops and the plate d is drawn back through the connections already described, and at the same time the plate K is pushed forward. This allows the cigars in the passage L to drop until they rest on the plate K. The distance apart of these plates is about the same as the diameter of a cigar. Next, re-

leasing the rod R, the plates instantly, through the action of the spring S, resume their first position, which allows the bottom cigar, and

that only, to drop into the receptacle below,

5 from which it may be removed through the opening H.

I do not confine myself to the precise details of mechanism shown. An indefinite variety of deviations may be made in the details 0 which will not essentially alter the working or principles of the invention.

What I claim is- 1. In combination, the slotted rod R, oppositely-moving plates J and K, locking mechmy name.

ANSALEM G. HART.

Witnesses: a

FRANK VAN VOORHTS, GEORGE L. MANsFIELI). 

